The Portland Trail Blazers extended Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara prior to the season. Sharpe's four-year, $90 million extension carried much more risk than Camara's four-year, $82 million extension. Not only was the salary higher, but Camara had already justified his extension with his performance last season. Camara made the All-Defensive Second Team and emerged as a key building block, helping establish Portland's defensive identity. Meanwhile, Sharpe's fit in Portland was murkier.
Sharpe was demoted to a bench role last season due to his lackluster defense. That move catalyzed the Blazers' end-of-season run, which included a top-ten defense. The one-dimensional player Sharpe was last season wasn't going to be enough to return an average annual value of $22.5 million, not after seeing the market for score-first players around the league, such as Brooklyn's Cam Thomas.
As is typically the case with these rookie-scale extensions, Portland had to project the player they believed Sharpe would become into the valuation. This was one of the most difficult extensions to navigate in the entire league.
On one hand, we just saw how messy restricted free agency can get with players like Thomas, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, and others. The Blazers wanted to proactively avoid that situation. They also couldn't risk letting another team determine Sharpe's market value, especially since all signs point towards a breakout 2025-26 season.
On the other hand, Sharpe's value as a player remained largely theoretical up to that point. He had the highest ceiling on Portland's roster and showed flashes of reaching it over three seasons, but those instances were far too inconsistent. They had to gamble on a score-first guard who struggled to shoot from beyond the arc. Not an ideal recipe for success.
Still, the pros of this extension outweighed the cons. They clearly believed in his potential when they took him with the No. 7 overall pick in 2023 despite sitting the entire year at Kentucky, and decided to double down on that investment this past summer.
Blazers were wise to extend Shaedon Sharpe before his breakout
It's still early in the season, but this already looks like the right decision. Sharpe is having that career year many anticipated, averaging 21.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists on 45/31/79 shooting splits. He continues to improve defensively and has even shown promising signs that his three-point shot is coming around.
If that jumpshot can become more reliable and he figures out how to refine his shot selection to play more to his strengths, Sharpe is eventually going to be one of the best scorers in the NBA. Say what you will about the market for scorers around the league, but that seems incredibly valuable for Portland as a team that struggles to generate offense outside of Deni Avdija.
In Sharpe, they may have found a legitimate co-star for Avdija. He's already become a key part of their offense with the highest usage rate on the roster, and should only continue to become a more impactful two-way player as he gains more experience.
Camara was the safe extension decision to give the Blazers a floor, but their ceiling lies with Sharpe. In retrospect, that alone is worth at least $100 million. The Blazers got a team-friendly value on their high-flyer, proving this bold decision came at the perfect time.